Red Moon
by AirbrushedGolem
Summary: Taken to a world where you get to interact with your favorite creatures and the stretch of nature that is almost untouched by humans? Sounds good, right? Press Start.
1. Chapter 1

Hi there everyone. First off, I don't own Pokemon. This statement goes for every chapter. Next, this is a REWRITE of Red Moon, a story I started in tandem with Delu's Red Tide. It was never finished and I literally hadn't updated in 4 years for multiple reasons, but you're not here to hear about those, eh? Enjoy the story.

You can expect weekly updates.

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Prologue:

The copy of Pokemon Emerald rested in my hand and I grinned, taking the stairs two at a time to get to my system faster. In preparation I had plugged the system in before I left earlier that day. Quickly popping out Ruby with a tilted smile I put Emerald in in it's place. "I'll have to get around to completing Ruby later." I mumbled to myself, kicking my legs up on the desk.

I was already taken by the opening, nodding slightly as I button mashed through Birch's opening sequence. It was something I had seen many times over with the amount of times I had restarted Ruby. Still a little more interesting than the opening to Diamond in my opinion.

I checked the screen, raising an eyebrow at seeing the costume change on Brendan and liking it after a few seconds. Let's see now, character name... I really never used my own name but felt like it this time around. R-Y-A-N. That about covered the introduction, and I pressed start.

Everything went quiet as I clicked A a few more times to get past Birch, the edges of my sight growing darker without raising alarm in me. Slowly my vision seemed to pull back and then I couldn't see the screen anymore.

As I fell through the darkness I caught a sound of voices. "NO! We're … him... plan B ri... Do I... ow!"

The voice made no sense then pain rocked me and my mind faded into unconsciousness.

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Chapter 1:

I jolted and gasped, letting out a groan of pain. My whole body ached and I couldn't remember why. Sunlight was streaming across my face as I ran my hands over the sheets, sure I could find my cell phone or a game system that would have the time. I definitely didn't have a wall clock visible from the bed. Finding nothing I slowly sat up, my body giving a groan of protest.

I rubbed a hand across my eyes, then stared. I could see my hand clearly, and everything beyond it. I was in a small room. A desk pressed into the opposite side, the edge pushed against the cream colored walls. A laptop sat on top of it, and a jacket rested over the chair. Past the end of the bed was a closet door, slightly ajar. A small mirror hung between the closet and the door out.

I pushed myself up, not caring that I was somewhere strange at all. All I cared about was the fact that I could _see_! My eyes worked perfectly, I was no longer so near sighted that my hand before my face was blurry.

I stood and looked down at myself. I was wearing a pair of black pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt. I ran my hand down the material, feeling the mesh type fabric smoothly against my fingers. The shirt was cotton, slightly rough after the feeling of the pants.

Looking up, I thought quickly about where I was and what had happened. Maybe I had had slight amnesia. A laser eye surgery appointment had been scheduled for a week after the last thing I remembered, and I could have gotten it, be spending the month before my twentieth birthday at a friend's, and have hit my head or something.

_Yes, that's it. Nothing is wrong, just a little bump to the noggin after some exercise to explain the pain. I'll remember everything soon enough. _I sat at the desk, looking through the pile of papers. The one on top was titled _Vesicular Stomatitis__. _I picked the packet up and flipped through it.

The paper talked about a disease that affected Pokemon and sounded very similar to rabies to me. Violent, foaming mouth, etc. Moving into the next section, which covered the leagues parameters on catching wild Pokemon in this time of crisis. It seemed that capture was limited to the first one seen in each area, and breaking this law was highly punishable.

Chuckling, I set the paper down. _Aiden must have written this, it sounds as highly scientific as usual__, _I thought, _I must have asked him to write it for a new fan fiction or something. Maybe we are writing a colab?_

I walked over to the closet, shutting the door before I checked the mirror. I stared, _This can't... What the. _My thoughts started to run in circles. In the mirror was a kid, early teens or maybe a little older than ten. He looked like me, the brown eyes having a small bit of green near the edges. The skin was slightly pale, having a small tan from little sun. But the hair! The hair was white! Leaning in I gasped, seeing that that wasn't exactly true. It was more a really _really_ light brown and had white streaks running through it.

I almost laughed, then I almost sobbed. Something was definitely wrong here, but I wouldn't panic. I breathed deeply, trying to think. All the ideas I had were off, my logic failing to explain how I was nine years younger, and with white hair to boot!

Slowly my heart slowed and I slumped into the desk chair, just letting my head be clear for a few minutes. It seemed as if I could float away as I lulled myself.

Eventually, I stood, again examining the face in the mirror. The boy that stared back was me. Or what I had looked like when I was younger, minus the white hair. I slipped the closet door open and looked at the clothes hanging there. There were a couple pairs of pants and a couple shirts. The pants were weird, to say the least. They seemed to be some sort of canvas that had an extra pair of short looking thing sewn onto them.

The shirts were much better, an orange half circle/line pattern on the front and the rest being black. A collar rose from the material, giving the clothing a hint of class.

I quickly dressed, ignoring the pair of fingerless gloves and instead sticking them in a wide pocket. A pair of shoes sat before the door out along with a green sling backpack. I put both on and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind me.

The hall I was in had three other doors and a window, the other direction leading to the stairs. The first floor was very neat and clean, and I appreciated the orderly look. The kitchen was through an arch to the back, a breakfast bar in the opened wall. Other than that, there was a table with four chairs around it.

It all looked very simple to me, and I walked back through the kitchen, making my way to the back door. Slipping out was easy, the door swinging quietly behind me. The backyard was grass for a little bit before a dirt road crossed it, leading away into a town. It was a very small little town in the country, only a few other houses. Three buildings rose to the north, and to my left there was a small lake. The buildings were very straight forward, two looking like convenience stores with a red and blue roof. The last was a bit away, the look making it seem like a hospital, because it was bigger.

Trees surrounded the town for the most part, the dirt road leading out to either direction. I sat against the house and watched clouds skid by. It was maybe six in the morning, and very little was going on.

As I sat there a man walked into town, a small brown and white dog trailing behind him. He walked past the blue and red roofed buildings, then turned toward the house I was sitting outside.

As he came closer I gasped. Following behind him was a POKEMON! It had looked like a dog from a distance, but now I could see it was a Zigzagoon, one of my favorite Pokemon. I watched the small thing run in zigzags behind the man, sometimes going farther and looking at things closely.

My mind turned back to the papers I had found in the room, then back to my new emerald game. It all clicked and I felt like puking. I had fallen into my game and could be a trainer! It was either that or I was crazy, and the drugs at the psych ward were giving me lucid dreams.

I preferred the first.

And the papers. They were so scientific because they were actually documents, not something made up. Which also meant that the world I was now in was going through a bad time with the disease and limits on trainers.

"Ryan! You ready to go?"

The voice caught me off guard and I looked up, locking eyes with the man before it clicked that _I_ was being talked to. My mind was sluggish and fuzzy as I had trouble recognizing my own name. I nodded, somewhat confused as to what I was ready for.

He waved me up, and I did so, approaching the man.

"What? No hug for your Dad?"

I was startled again, and obliged while I took in his looks. He was very plain looking, brown hair and eyes, tanned skin, yet not very memorable. After he let me go I knelt down, running a hand over the Zigzagoon that had come with the man. I wished that I had a Zigzagoon, even though there was a fifty percent chance that it was all a dream.

"Zig." said the small creature, grunting past something in his mouth. I reached down and it dropped a small bottle filled with a dark yellow liquid into my hand.

"An antidote, that'll come in handy." the man, my dad, said. I slipped the small spray into a side pocket on my pack and stood up. The man quickly dragged me to the town exit, and I was glad that it seemed he wasn't going to give me a lecture on everything, like they usually did in the games. Ahead the route was very... standard... Trees rose to either side, ledges filled the area, and trainers waited in the tall grass. I was dragged with my heels literally forming ruts. We were moving so fast that by the time trainers challenged him, we were out of earshot and I dared not try to start walking for fear of falling.

A wild Pokemon jumped in front of us and stood its ground. It was a small Lotad, mostly blocking our path. I thought we would stop, but the man proved me wrong by keeping a steady pace.

"Ziggy! Headbutt!" he yelled, and the Zigzagoon raced ahead, smashing the small thing out of our way.

I felt my stomach drop as I heard a crunch. A small tear was in the thing's forehead, bone protruding slightly. The blood mixed with a slightly gray liquid, and I felt like puking.

It was dead.

This world was different in many ways from the game so far. But here was the biggest. Pokemon died. I breathed deep as the man drug me through Oldale. Before it had been hard to think of him as a Dad, but now it was impossible. The guy was a lunatic.

He babbled cheerfully, obviously thinking nothing of what he had done, as we flew past the four buildings in Oldale. As we approached route 101, if I remember correctly, and I grew apprehensive again.

Ahead would be two bad things. Either my 'dad' would run into another wild Pokemon in the grass, or we would go over the ledges. They really weren't that bad looking, maybe three feet high, but going over any of them at this speed would hurt.

I was right.

The landing was hard, and went mostly on my right wrist, as the man was still holding my left arm tight. I gasped at the pain but quickly straightened, falling into the being dragged pose as I waved my wrist, making sure it wasn't broken.

Littleroot Town was ahead, three buildings making it up. I wondered at this, questioning how the Pokemon Company could call three buildings a town. Sure, one of 'ems a lab, but there were only two houses and some homeless people wandering around. At least I _think _they're homeless, I mean there are two families that actually live here, and if this is following the games, then the rest live nowhere or the woods or something.

I hit myself mentally, to stop myself thinking so hard when we stopped at the lab. I sighed as the man let me go, rubbing both of my wrists to relieve the pain in both.

"Here we are, the lab. Go on in and get your Pokemon."

All I could do was stare in shock as the man walked away. I was getting a Pokemon! A region starter, it looked like, and I couldn't wait. I stopped myself from going in though. This man, who claimed to be a father, was walking away instead of watching his child get a Pokemon.

I watched the man stomp away cheerily and shuddered when I saw the ground under him. There were small drag marks where I had been dragged and even a few footprints when I had been able to run between the dragging. That was it. Only my footprints were there. Whatever my dad was, he didn't leave a single mark.


	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

I heaved another sigh, wishing that this world would make more sense than it does. I stepped forward and opened the door to the building in front of me and walked in to what I expected. The walls were clean and white. A few machines were scattered around and an assistant was working on one of them. Near the back stood professor birch, the Pokemon Professor of the region.

I squinted for a little while at the man. He was mid to upper thirties and had a well trimmed beard with wild hair. His face was very square and was wearing sandals under a lab coat and shorts. I felt a dull throbbing when I tried to remember his name until it clicked. Birch. As soon as I remembered the pain faded.

The only thing that wasn't expected was another person standing next to Birch and talking quickly to him. The boy was a little taller than me, which was to be expected, since I de-aged, and was now, presumably, ten. He wore a long sleeve red and black shirt, black pants with yellow accents a the ends, and black and yellow fingerless gloves.

As I watched, he slid a funny looking white hat on over his black hair and I recognized him. It was Brendan, the male sprite/rival for ruby and sapphire. I quickly glanced at my clothes and realized that they were the emerald version clothes for him. I was glad he wasn't wearing them, and also glad that I looked nothing like him, except the white hair, but his was a hat.

I laughed lightly, thinking back to all those boards on the internet that had argued over whether it was hair or a hat. I guess I had that answer, and even though I had been one of the ones to argue hair, I was glad it wasn't, I really didn't want to look anymore like him except for the clothes that he didn't even wear.

Unfortunately, my laugh attracted their attention, and when I looked up again they were all staring at me. It was a little creepy, cuz all the sounds they were making had cut off.

"Um... Hi." I murmured, my voice breaking the quite, "I'm Ryan, a new trainer?"

"Ah!" Professor Birch almost yelled, "You can get your new Pokemon right away, but first I'll need to see your trainer card."

I grew anxious and slipped my pack off, hoping that it was in there. In the front pocket, which also had a Pokeball, was a small plastic card. I pulled it out and looked at it closely. It literally said 'Trainer Card' in the top left hand corner, the top right having my ID number. There was a picture of me on the right, and my stats on the left. In Name it read Ryan Terrar, and gave me a weird pang behind my eye. It took me a few minutes to snap out of the feeling that something was immensely wrong with my last name.

I handed the bit of plastic over to Birch and looked to Brendan. He had a Mudkip sitting on his shoulder and was talking to it. I watched until the Professor tapped my shoulder, redirecting my attention to three Pokeballs set out on the table. In front of each was a small little picture tag of what was inside.

I looked over each and instantly ruled out Mudkip. I had no want to relate myself to Brendan anymore, and I also always picked water, it was time for a change. I had it down to Torchic and Treecko. Treecko was cool looking, and would be good against the first gym, but Torchic was a fire type and with the new rules in place would provide me with a type I probably wouldn't get my hands on later. When it evolved it would be fire/fighting. It would be useful later against steel types and normal types.

Shaking my head ruefully, I reached for Treecko's ball. It was cooler, less likely to cook me, and the last part of the game was all ocean and cave anyways. There's no way I could go wrong with that.

I picked up the Treecko ball. "I pick-"

"Actually, that ball is empty. Sorry it slipped my mind but I only have a Torchic right now. Ah, Torchic, it's a very good choice for someone who wants to be a powerful trainer." Birch said, cutting me off. "Why don't you let it out and give it a nickname?"

After placing Treecko's ball back on the counter and picking up my second choice I pressed the button on the ball and released the small bird. Professor Birch handed me a Pokedex that was already displaying the information on my little bird. It seemed to be male and level seven, knowing scratch, growl, and focus energy.

"Level seven?" I questioned the professor.

"Well, the other Torchic I had was taken yesterday by a new trainer, and I've had this one at the lab for a little longer."

I nodded, only half listening to his explanation as I thought over a nickname. _Blaze and those kind of nicknames are overused_, I thought. It would definitely be better to go with something more original, yet still related to fire types. In the back of my head I was still sour over the fact that I wouldn't have a Treecko.

"Hey, little bud." I said, crouched next to the bird. "I'm Ryan, your new trainer. How would you like to be named Volk, short for volcano?"

"Tor-CHIC!" Volk yelled, jumping up and down, then blushing and hiding from the onlookers behind me. I nodded to the three inside and walked out, Volk clinging to me. I sat out side against a tree at the southern part of town. The sun was now coming up and I watched as cloud's shadows skidded by.

As Volk ran around, chirping happily, I opened my pack to see what rested inside. In the main part I had a few changes of clothes, all looking the same as what I currently wore. The side pockets yielded more, the left having the antidote from earlier and the right holding about five potions.

I glanced up, working a crick out of my neck and glimpsed someone wearing red and black walking toward Oldale. That reminded me that there was a Pokemart in the town. I wondered if they sold clothes there, then turned my attention back to my bag.

Underneath the clothing was a very compressed sleeping bag. I was amazed at how small and light it was, and glad that I had it. The last pocket I had already looked through. I replaced my trainer ID and slipped the five extra Pokeballs in. I put the backpack back on and placed Volk's ball in a small Pokeball pocket in the front and stretched.

If there was one thing I knew about this world, it was that I was already in love with it.


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

The ball made a successful ding and stopped shaking. I let out a deep sigh of relief, the battle having taken more out of me than I had thought it would. Watching your only Pokemon participate in a battle that could end its life was harrowing.

I picked up the ball and smiled sadly. I had been hoping with everything that the first Pokemon I ran into would be a Zigzagoon, but I had run into a Poochyena. The glossy ball reflected a bit of the sun and felt nice in my hand.

"C'mon out Poochyena!" I yelled, throwing the ball in the air. The flash of red light faded, and standing before me was a little Poochyena. I took out my Pokedex and flipped through the menus, finally making it to the one that listed my Pokemon's stats. He was level two and knew tackle. I smirked at the small screen, feeling ridiculous for not having known that most low level Pokemon only had one or two moves. I slipped the dex back into my pocket and introduced myself and Volk to the bundle of fur.

"How would you like to be named Tiberius, Tibs for short?" I asked. He gave me a confused look, then barked positively. Running up he nuzzled me and I pulled him into my arms and gave him a hug. The action gave me an odd sense of deja vu that I had to brush off. I finally let him go and smiled, returning both of my Pokemon to their balls.

I stood and arched my back, feeling the bones crackle nicely. In front of me, the route opened to Oldale town. I watched as a Pokemart worker lead someone to the store, and two residents talked near the Pokemon center. The town had a rustic feel that I liked, drawing me in towards it.

Entering the Pokemon Center, I was surprised to see it was smaller than the game portrayed. I walked over to the desk and handed over the two Pokeballs, watching as the nurse and a Chansey walked to a back room to, presumably, heal them. Upstairs there was a cafeteria. Lunch was being served, and I got in line, paying the small amount of money to get food. My meal cost five Pokedollars and then I bought ten packets of Pokefood, each for two Pokedollars.

I ate my lunch in peace, almost no one else up here. The windows were overlooking route 102, and I gazed out, thinking to the early morning 'run' I had had there. Gazing at the ceiling as I ate, I wondered if my family was worried, and if my 'body' was still there, because my mind was obviously here. I wondered why I had changed, even if only a little, when I came here, and if it had anything to do outside circumstances. Lastly, I wondered if anybody else was here from my own world. I figured that if so, they would probably be more caring than the people I had met here. A shiver ran down my spine as something surfaced in my mind, half remembered from when I had initially passed out. The words had been so frantic.

My Pokemon were healed within an hour, and I gave each a pack of food. I ran a hand over each as they ate, getting an indifferent response from Volk, although I did see a small blush on his face, and a nuzzle into my hand from Tiberius.

As the two finished their food, I looked out the window toward the west. A trainer was walking down the road toward town, but she would probably be a few more minutes. I placed Volk and Tiberius back into their balls and slipped out the door, heading north.

As I walked, I watched the sky. Clouds skidded across the blue, acting the sailboats in reverse. Ahead, Route 103 opened. Ledges lead to the top of the route, looking easily scalable, but that wasn't the point for me. I wanted to catch a Zigzagoon. The first patch of tall grass rose in front of me, and hopefully would contain the object of my desires.

I released Tiberius, quietly informing him that we would be searching through the tall grass, seeking a Zigzagoon.

"And if you see a different Pokemon first, don't call me over, take it out. The rule is whatever Pokemon __I__ see, not the first you see." Tiberius grinned toothily at my idea and ran into the grass, me close behind.

I opened grass left and right, hoping to see the zigged brown and white fur. The sun skidded across the sky as I searched, every once in a while hearing Tiberius bark out at an enemy. Finally I sighed.

"Tiberius!" I called, him running to very quickly. I walked out of the grass and sat next to the water. Pulling him into my lap, I sprayed a potion onto his wounds, fixing up the damage he had received through the day. I lay back, Tiberius still on top of me and wondered about Zigzagoons. Maybe they weren't in this area? I had searched for hours and not seen a single Pokemon, thanks to Tiberius, but he hadn't seen a single Zigzagoon.

As I looked to the sky, I heard a rustling behind me.

"Wiiin-Guuuuul!" it called. I sighed and turned, a smirk on my face. At least if I couldn't get a Zigzagoon then I could get a Pokemon that would beat Roxanne into the ground. I lifted Tiberius and set him in front of me. He looked back nervously and I smiled, nodding to show him it was okay to go for it.

Tiberius ran forward, confronting the small bird in front of him. He let out a bone-chilling howl. _That's Howl!_ I thought to myself gleefully. This would be a cinch.

"Tibs, Tackle!" I yelled. He ran forward and leapt at the Wingull, who saw it coming and flapped into the air. It rose higher than shot a water gun down, drenching my Poochyena. Tiberius shook it off, the drops flying to the ground. He looked no worse for wear, but I knew that the attack had to have done some sort of damage.

"Use Howl!" I yelled, hoping my half formed idea worked. Tiberius reared back and let out a bone chilling howl, effectively raising his attack and knocking the Wingull out of the sky in a panic. It landed hard on the ground and I called for a tackle before it could get up. Tiberius lunged forward and hit it directly, sending it stumbling. I took out a Pokeball and tossed it, allowing the ball to score a little more damage on the bird before it was sucked in.

I held my breath as the ball shook, finally stopping after a minute. I sat in relief, the tension flowing away as Tiberius came up and dropped the ball into my lap. I lifted the ball and let out Wingull, along with Volk. Introducing the two, I quickly came up with a nickname for the small male bird.

"How about Peck?" I asked, and got a gleeful cry in return. My party was growing quickly. My first day and I had three Pokemon. Volk the Torchic, Tiberius the Poochyena and Peck the Wingull. Returning the three, I made my way back to the Pokemon center.

Walking back into the afternoon light I headed towards route 102 with my healthy team. I ran through what I was likely to see here for wild Pokemon, and came up with Lotad, Ralts, and Zigzagoon for the Pokemon I wanted. There were probably also Tailow, which would be good.

I walked to the small pond to the north of the route. It was the most likely place to find Lotads after all. I crept through the grass, searching for a Pokemon. Ahead, the grass shook and I leapt forward, excited for what I would find. Then I yelled in disgust.

In front of me was a Wurmple. In my opinion the most __worthless___ P_okemon there was. The only caterpillar worth catching was Caterpie, because it would either be a cool psychic Butterfree. Why did it have to be a Wurmple?!

I let out Volk and called for a scratch. Instead a blast of flame came out, burning the Wurmple to a crisp. I smiled at Volk and rubbed his head, getting a pleased 'Tooor' in return. I turned to walk away, Volk in my arms, and was startled to see a kid staring at me.

"What's your problem?" I asked irritably. Wasn't it bad enough that I had run into a Wurmple instead of something useful?

He just looked at me, shook his head, then mumbled something like 'first that girl with the Ralts, and now _this_.' I wondered what girl he was talking about, then shook my own head and walked away. Now was time for some hard core grinding with the few Pokemon I had.


	4. Chapter 4

**School started, getting back to the story no**w.

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Chapter 4

I walked into Petalburg as the sun set, the lights from the shops clicking on. I stopped at the Pokemon center and healed my Pokemon before walking to my 'home'. I looked at the gym, remembering that it was the fifth gym or something. The sign listed it as the normal gym, an evolved Volk would do well here. That took a bit of the sting out of not getting a choice away. Fighting types were a bit harder to find here, weren't they?

The lights were on in my house, and as I went to open the door, it opened and smacked me in the nose. I fell back, holding my face as tears pricked at my eyes. I looked up to see who it was that had opened the door, and saw a sickly looking kid with green hair.

"Ryan!" he yelled. "I'm sorry! I was waiting at your house, because I wanted to say bye before I went to my relatives in Verdanturf."

After he said this, my eyes widened. It was Wally, the friend/rival of Hoenn. He helped me up and we went inside. I looked him over and agreed with the game description of him being sickly. His skin was pale and he had bags under his eyes. We chatted, or more like he chatted and I listened.

It seemed that he had met the gym leader's daughter and she had helped him catch a Ralts, which he introduced to me. In return I introduced Volk, Tiberius, and Peck. Wally was surprised that I had, 'caught so many', as he put it.

I chuckled at this and told him about the Wurmple that I had passed up, not mentioning that it was more accidental than anything, and about all the trainers I had fought on the way here. I was surprised at how much I had accomplished in a day, and felt tired after talking so much. I asked Wally when he was leaving, and which way he was going.

"Well, it's night right now, so I won't leave till the morning, and I'm going through Rustboro."

I perked up at this and asked if he wanted to travel together to Rustboro, since I was going there too.

We continued to talk late into the night as our Pokemon played with each other and slowly fell asleep one by one. That night the room I had woken up in was full of Pokemon and two fresh trainers eager to explore the world.

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Morning came with no hesitation, casting the light of the sun into my eyes. I sat up groggily and wiped my eyes clear of sleep, walking slowly to the bathroom. Wally and Ralts were still asleep on the cot we had found for him and my Pokemon were sprawled across the covers of my bed, all breathing softly. I was glad there was no snoring from the group. Being a light sleeper, I would have been a zombie if they snored.

I stared at my familiar, yet different face in the mirror. I was definitely a little older than Wally looked to be, but it was hard to tell with the light brown and white streaked hair. I pulled back the locks with my hands and looked at the mirror again, trying to visualize myself with brown hair to see what I would look like but it wasn't working.

Digging in the drawers of the vanity lead to a few good things. One was a set of combs and toiletries I could add to my backpack and the other was a package of hair dye. The brand was "Pokedye" and the color was "Zigzagoon Brown". Besides the odd terminology it looked and seemingly worked like normal hair dye, at least with the instructions.

An hour and a shower later I looked into the mirror again and grinned, looking a bit more like my old self, minus the glasses. The shade of 'Zigzagoon Brown' was exactly what it looked like. With my new hair color I nodded, liking that it made me look _normal_.

...

Breakfast had been a quiet affair, both of us eager to set out and having talked enough last night. The walk out of Petalburg was more of an emotional rollercoaster. Though I had 'grown up' there I had no qualms of leaving the Other Father behind but Wally was already starting to miss his parents.

"Hey, come on Wally, this is a new route, yeah?" I got a nod out of the sickly kid and shook my head slightly. "Well, we're trainers now! How about we catch some Pokemon! Or, you know, just the first ones we see." 

"Actually, Ryan?" Wally started, rubbing his arm in embarrassment. "I'm not a trainer. Non trainers are only allowed one or two Pokemon, depending on occupation."

I made a small 'o' with my mouth in response, nodding sagely. "Well, I'm definitely going to catch another Pokemon for my team, at least..."

I walked up the stairs and approached the long grass that was here, hoping for something better than a wurmple. Wally stepped up behind me, watching with Ralts held in his arms. As I was about to step into the grass something scratched across my head, a thin trickle of blood sliding over my forehead. I jumped back and ran a hand through my hair, my hand coming away red. 

"Ryan! Are you OK?" Wally shouted, voice trembling. I waved him back, eyes scanning for my attacker before spotting the winged fiend.

"TAILOOOWWWWW!" the bird screamed at me, coming around and looking like it would peck me at any time. I reached to the backpack strap and pulled out Volk's ball.

"Volk!" I yelled as the light faded and my Torchic assumed a fighting pose, growling at the bird in front of us. "Use ember on it!"

He complied, launching the small balls of flame at our opponent. The Tailow swooped out of the way, only getting nicked on the wing tip by one of them. Its speed amazed me as it rounded us again and again. I yelled for Volk to launch the ember straight up. The flames poured into the sky, then drifted down like a luminous rain.

I was amazed at how beautiful it was, and then at how effective. The Tailow was caught in the rain, its own speed making it run into a large amount of the flame. It flew lower, beneath where the flames were going out and flew toward Volk.

"Use scratch." I said, still awed by the ember fountain. Volk turned his attention, letting the flames go out. At the last second he jumped above the Tailow and scratched along its back. It gave one last yell of defiance before calling out and standing, panting, on the ground.

I quickly threw a Pokeball and it dinged almost immediately. I brought out two potion bottles and let the Tailow out, quickly spraying one bottle over it and the other on Volk.

"You are one fast little bugger." I murmured to the Tailow as I checked the wounds, making sure that they were all healed before relaxing. I pulled out my Pokedex and checked over the Tailow, finding out that she was greatly gifted in the speed category. _Duh, of course she's fast, she was like a bottle rocket, zipping around like that._ I grinned at this thought.

"Hello, Rocket," I said to her, getting a nod in return. "Ket for short. You are the first female member of my team."

"That was so cool..." Wally said, walking closer as if afraid Ket would attack him as well. I touched my head where the scratch was already scabbing over. "Wow Ryan, that was just amazing. You're a great trainer!"

I blushed and shook my head, then released the rest of my team, introducing them all to Ket as an excuse to not answer. She was good spirited and dealt well with all of my team, overcoming the almost shy demeanor of Tiberius and Volk, while she connected with Peck, who seemed to be joking around. I smiled at my small group, then returned Volk and Tiberius.

"We're going to train in this area for a little!" I yelled to the two fliers. They both called an affirmative and landed, each on one of my shoulders. Wally gave me that impressed look again that made me uncomfortable, and kept close to my side. As we wandered through the grass I heard a yelp and a high squeal. The sounds were so savage that I could feel my throat tightening.

I pushed forward and signaled Wally to hang back again. He complied and the birds on my shoulders crouched in on themselves as the sounds grew nearer. I finally parted the grass and saw a clearing ahead. It was small and surrounded by high grass, except the side that ended in the small cliff to the beach. What was inside the clearing made my breath stop.

A Poochyena, foaming at the mouth, was finishing tearing the tail from a Marill who was also foaming at the mouth. A thick discolored liquid dripped from the tail stub, congealing in the grass underneath. I gagged at the smell of two, the cloying scent of blood very heavy here.

Both heard the small sound and turned toward me. I was scared stiff, their eyes yelling murder at me. The foam dripped from the Poochyena's mouth in the brief lull before both snarled and lunged forward.

Peck and Ket reacted quickly. Peck blew the two back with a well placed water gun before they could reach me as Ket pumped herself up. I regained my senses and analyzed the battle in front of me. Both were weak, yet still very savage with the rabies like disease.

"Ket," I said to the bird on my right. "Fly between them and distract them. Peck them when they aren't looking at you. Peck, you use water gun on them and try to knock them to the ground."

Both leaped into action. I watched as they used the tactics well, distracting the enemies and striking alternately. I felt my tension build as I remembered that the disease was contagious. I had no need to worry, though, as both enemies were soon down and out, their bodies laying in the clearing.

I left quickly, making my way to the edge of the grass patch and leaving my small breakfast to water it. Both of my birds were making light sounds of their name, rubbing my face with their wings and soothing me. The sight was still strong in my mind. I cleared my mind as I sat there, being comforted by my Pokemon.

Soon I was better, and I smiled to each of them before scratching them appreciatively on the heads. I walked away from the grass and let the sea sooth me.

"Wally?" I called out, trying to find my companion. I soon found him in a similar position to mine, huddled over what had been his breakfast. I walked up behind him and pulled him into a hug, patting the slightly smaller and sickly boy's back.

…

**Pokemon:**

Torchic – Volk

Poochyena – Tiberius

Wingull – Peck

Tailow - Rocket


	5. Chapter 5

…

…

…

Chapter 5

After an hour Wally was back on his feet and had a bit more color to his pale face. I was feeling a lot better myself though I could not tell if it was from blocking out the image or if it was just that TV had made me used to death. I still found animal deaths to be sadder than humans and here it carried over to being sad about the Pokemon I'd been forced to deal with.

"Hey Wally." I started, slightly hesitant. "Does it bother you that Pokemon die in battles between trainers?"

The green haired boy stopped and looked at me as if I had asked him if clouds in the sky were weird. "Well, if it's bloody or with big injuries, yeah. Blood doesn't make me feel good. But it's what happens. Less in the high level matches with all the training the Pokemon have gone through, but early battles it always happens. It never bothered you before."

"W-well," I thought quick, and with surprise. "It's never been so up close. On my way to get my starter my dad killed a Pokemon with his Zigzagoon."

Wally nodded sympathetically, not noticing my pause before I said dad. I feel as though that would have been weirder than my apparent change of heart and we left the conversation there. Neither of us wanted to continue down the line of thought that we had ended up on.

A few minutes later we entered the forest and I noticed that it was cooler, the shade giving a nice breath of relief from the warm Hoenn day. Ahead I could see a bug catcher prowling through the grass, net posed to strike. I gripped Tiberius' ball and walked forward. As I approached, he turned and caught my eyes, challenging me to a battle.

"Sure," I accepted, throwing the ball forward. "Go, Tibs! Howl!" I figured that since it was the very start of the battle and the opponent hadn't set out their Pokemon, I would start it off with an early bonus.

He narrowed his eyes at the tactic and released a Wurmple, as I thought he would. He called for a string shot, which blasted out and stuck one of Tiberius' paws to the ground.

"Rip it off with your teeth, then tackle that bug!" I yelled, excited for the battle, and getting to train up Tiberius. He bit the string and ripped it off, getting free, then tackled the Wurmple, knocking it out in one shot. I gasped at the power of the hit, and wondered at the energy.

The bug catcher let out a Silcoon, which he bragged about just catching. All I could do was smirk at his idiocy, knowing that if you caught them in the cocoon form, all they could do was harden. I easily took down the Silcoon and the Cascoon that followed, before he sent out another Wurmple. I grinned and called for one last tackle at the same time as the boy.

They ran into each other and fell to the ground. I waited, breath held as Tiberius struggled up, panting lightly over the out cold Wurmple. I yelled happily and jumped up and down, Tiberius letting out a jubilant howl as the boy passed over my prize money. I congratulated him on the astounding match with his new Pokemon, truly impressed that he was as good as he was when he had only just caught them.

I leaned down and hugged Tiberius, happy with the victory. I left Tiberius out of his ball. Wally smiled when we retreated to him, Ralts clapping from his arms. I noticed that the small Pokemon looked more eager now than it had before and had to wonder if Wally having his Pokemon out was functioning like an exp share would. I wouldn't complain if it had, since that meant his Pokemon would soon be able to actually protect him.

We headed into the grass behind the bug catcher and made it through without an encounter. I wondered if the whole trip would be like that, or if Pokemon would actually come out. I wanted to catch another. 

"Hey, Wally, what kind of trainer would you be if there wasn't the law about catching the first you see? Hypothetically of course, since you'd need a trainer's license."

Wally walked beside me, his face scrunched up in thought. It was a long silence as we walked, though the air was filled with the rustling of trees. After a few minutes I forgot about the question and enjoyed the light that trickled down through the canopy.

This area was pretty deserted of Pokemon, though I could see trainers milling around. They must have caught all the bugs in the area. To me that was just good news. Rarer Pokemon are always deeper in the wilderness, if the cartoon taught me anything. At least that's where they found them all.

My brow furrowed as I drew a blank. Who was the main character's name? Allen? Something like that. He was always lucky and got a mix of rare and strong Pokemon, but that's what happened with main characters. I really do wonder what it would be like, as a main character. Profit falling from the skies, rare Pokemon and Legendaries to catch, maybe a wacky sidekick. A sideways glance at Wally had me smirking. He definitely didn't fit 'wacky'.

"I would train nursing Pokemon." Wally suddenly stated, making me jump. It took me a little bit for it to click what he was talking about.

"Like, the baby Pokemon? Pichu, Igglybuff, Mime Jr and such?"

"No, though they would be cute. I mean like what Nurse Joy and doctors keep around. Stuff like Chansey, or even Ralts here, since he can tell emotions. I think it would be cool to help people feel better both in mind and body." He ended the speech with a light, but deep cough as I watched in worry. I could see his reasoning and it was a lot more selfless than mine would have been. "What about you Ryan?"

I shook my head, wondering if Ralts had sent him a message about what I was thinking. "I would train water types, maybe try and become a Gym Leader. Either that or just adventure and take Pokemon that want to come with me and become a Pokemon Doctor." Tiberius nudged into my leg, making it very clear that he would want to come with me even if the law wasn't in place. "I don't like seeing Pokemon get hurt."

"That's actually really cool. With the law the second one is definitely more realistic though. I bet you could even get some books on it in Fallarbor Town. The Pokemon Center there has a big wall of books. Not as big as the Pokemon League's, but that's hard to compare to and Fallarbor is easier to get to."

"I... will think about that." I mused, tapping my chin. "Wait, isn't there a school in Rustboro?"

"The school is just for beginning trainers. They don't have anything for advanced students or researchers. I heard that they may have closed the school down for now, though. I didn't catch the reason." 

"How about we drop by before we split and see why then?" I asked, a mischievous smile on my face.

Wally laughed, head back and genuine and I smiled regularly, glad to have cheered the kid up. He hadn't smiled since we left the puddle of vomit by the road.

As I was about to say more Tiberius stopped in front of me, causing me to almost trip as he growled low and deep. There in front of us was a red worm with yellow stingers. I half smiled, the Wurmple now catching up to me, since I hadn't caught the one before.

"You know, I was still holding a little hope for a Zigzagoon." I said, half jokingly. "Tibs, Tackle!"

…

After spraying an Antidote on Tiberius and a potion on both him and Willis I smiled, looking over the two. "Welcome to the team Willis, you'll fit right in. Are you ready to get some training in?"

The Wurmple nodded eagerly, grinning and eyes showing happiness and gratitude.

"Okay. We have to help you catch up to the others, level wise. Plus, you'll be the first to evolve, since you'll hit your next stage before you catch up." My words only made the little worm Pokemon even more pumped to go. I laughed and returned Tiberius, who was a bit tired out.

We continued on after a short snack and Wally and I got lost in conversation as I battled the Pokemon that crossed our paths. I was glad that I had Willis now as I had forgotten to get more antidotes before I left Petalburg. Willis, though, was immune to poison which was a definite benefit.

Near sundown Willis started glowing after defeating another Slakoth. I grinned like a loon and bounced on my toes as I watched. When the light faded I laughed and picked up Willis in his new form as a Cascoon. "You are so awesome!" I yelled, Willis laughing in his own language as I spun.

Wally set up camp as I let all of my Pokemon out to eat and meet the new team mate. Volk was very cautious around Willis but the rest hit it off well. With three birds I had been expecting a little more conflict but they seemed to adjust well to the situation.

Dinner for me and Wally was almost as simple as the Pokemon's meal. We both broke out some dried fruit and a water bottle, grinning to each other over a small fire. The night was very sedate and before long we dozed off to the sounds of nocturnal Pokemon.

…

_Wally stayed up a little later than Ryan, his brow furrowed. Ralts came over before too long, sensing insecurity in his new trainer. The small Pokemon crawled into the sickly boy's bedroll and snuggled up for the night, acting tired._

_"I know you're not asleep Ralts." Wally murmured softly, careful that only his Pokemon could hear._

_'I know.' Ralts replied mentally, smiling. His trainer was astute and it thrilled him that he was lucky enough to travel with the boy. He secretly hoped he'd take Ryan's nudging and become a trainer. Ralts was also excited because he had learned a lot watching Ryan train and felt like he was an inch away from harnessing some of his own ability._

_Wally stayed quiet for a while, watching Ryan's sleeping bag rise and fall as he breathed, definitely asleep. "He's different than I remember. I know he went away for a little bit but I didn't think he would change..." Wally trailed off, his memory going to him playing with a faceless boy with brown hair and a lighthearted attitude. "What could have made him this serious and determined?"_

_'I don't know.' Ralts replied hesitantly. 'Shall I look for you, Wally?'_

_The boy was taken aback by the offer and shook his head. "No, that would be really rude. What if it's something really personal? I think Dad said Ryan's parents got a divorce. I really don't want to pry. I'm just happy that we still hang out. He was always there for me."_

_'Except now. We're going to Verdanturf and he's becoming a trainer, or Gym Leader, or Pokemon Doctor... Do you think he'll reach his goal?'_

"_If you had asked me two years ago I would have said no, but right now... It's like he's a different person. I think he'll make it."_

…

**Pokemon:**

Torchic – Volk

Poochyena – Tiberius

Wingull – Peck

Tailow – Rocket

Wurmple - Willis


End file.
